The present invention relates to a door mounting structure, and more particularly to the door mounting structure using a guide rail that guides the movement of a door and minimizes the space occupied for opening and closing the door.
The user interface part of devices such as computer, television and refrigerator is generally located outside on the front. Furthermore, some user interface parts are located at a lower place on the outside front but usually somewhat recessed on the device, and covered by a door or lid.
For an example, a television set typically has a control panel door to cover the user interface that consists of a control panel including the power, channel and volume switches, and the user interface is located below the external case with certain depth. This user interface is usually located in a recessed area in a lower area of the outside casing. Such a structure like a control panel door that covers the switches is very useful to protect the switches from dust, debris, and damage along with providing a beautiful appearance.
For a computer case, a panel door covering the power switch, reset switch, and other switches is quite commonly used. Connecting ports such as video in/output ports, audio in/output ports, mouse port and keyboard ports can be situated in the front panel of case, and covered by a door that can be opened or closed.
FIG. 1 is the perspective view of conventional computer case that illustrates the door used in computer case. FIG. 2 is cross sectional view of the computer to illustrate the door mounting structure.
In FIGS. 1 and 2, conventional door mounting structure is rotational type. Namely, the door mounting structure consists of case panel 10 which is a part of a computer case, door 20 partially covering the case panel 10, and the door rotation axis 30 that is mounted inside of the case by certain gap from the case panel. In the mounting structure, the door rotation axis 30 includes two rotation protrusions which is a part of the door 20 and the protrusion receiver formed inside of the case panel which corresponds the rotation protrusion.
The conventional door 20 rotates about the rotational axis 30 to open or close the part of the case panel 10. Using the rotational type device, a designer must consider the moving contour of the door while arranging the inner parts of a computer system to avoid interfering the door""s movement. In particular, as the size of the door 20 increases the rotation axis 30 should be positioned inside of the case panel at a greater depth from the case panel. Therefore, the moving contour of the door requires greater space, thereby limiting the degree of freedom to design a case under normal circumstances. Finally, because the rotation-type door is also difficult to fix at an arbitrary angle, the user must open or close the door completely, which is a disadvantage.
It is an object of the present invention to provide the door mounting structure that can minimize the inner space of a computer case for door mounting.
It is another object of the present invention to provide the door mounting structure that is easy to open, close and manufacture.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide the door mounting structure that can be fixed at an arbitrary angle to control the extent to which the door remains open when opening the door.
To accomplish the objects of the present invention, a door mounting structure is provided that consists of a case panel forming part of the case, a door to partially close the case panel, at least one guide protrusion formed in the door, and at least one guide rail which guides the guide protrusion respectively to move inside the case.
The user interface is mounted in the case panel at a certain depth from the outer face of the case panel, and the door is arranged in the case panel to open or cover the case panel by the door""s movement. At least one guide rail is formed in the case panel, and the guide protrusion formed in the door moves along the guide rail. As the guide protrusion moves, the door also moves.
Preferably, the guide protrusions are formed in both sides of the door. The guide protrusions are arranged in a straight line, and they can move in the perpendicular direction to the line. Also, the guide protrusions can form plural axes with a gap in the direction of the door""s movement.
Furthermore, it is preferable that a pair of the first guide protrusions are arranged in a straight line to form an axis, and a pair of the second guide protrusions in another straight line to form another axis. As a result of forming two axes, each axis formed by protrusions prevents another axis from rotating. Thus, the door moves along the designed tracing path without rotating.
The door can be arranged at arbitrary angle inside of the case panel. The angle depends on the shape and arrangement of the guide rails, and can be modified into the optimal angle according to layout of the internal parts of the case. It is desired that the door should be arranged parallel to the inner face of the case panel, because the inner space of the case can be maximized with such arrangement.
A platform can be formed between the guide protrusion and a door boss, and the door boss is formed to have a width greater than the guide protrusion. The guide protrusion and door can be stopped or fixed at arbitrary position on the guide rail due to the friction force between the door boss and the circumference of the guide rail. While the conventional rotation-type door cannot be fixed at arbitrary position, the door of the present invention can be fixed at arbitrary position and opened partially or completely as desired. Also, intermediate stopper can be formed on the guide rail with an interval, which enables the user to control the extent of the door opening stepwise.
A stopper can be formed in the ends of the guide rail to keep the door open when the door is fully opened. The stopper can be formed as a elastic parts to secure the guide protrusions, or curved part that is formed by bending the ends of the guide rails.